Legalizing marijuana lowers the rate of drug-related car accidents, study says

BY: MIROSLAV TOMOSKI A recent study out of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health — published in the American Journal of Public Health — shows that states that have legalized medical-marijuana reduced the number of drug-related car accidents. The study was conducted…

The next evolution of birth control is moving beyond the pill

In 1839, Charles Goodyear came up with a simple rubber invention that changed everything. Not the tire – that had already been around for years before. No, this small rubber flap was the world’s first condom: a simple, snug-fitting device…

Video gamers might be the next generation of pilots

Put down that controller! It’s a refrain that we’ve probably heard many times in our lives. Stop fiddling with your phone! You can’t play that video game right now, you’ve got homework to do! It’s no surprise that for a…

This musician created an immersive underwater concert and it sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before

One of the things about music that most aspiring musicians quickly discover is that it’s a field where book knowledge and theory can only take you so far. All the mathematical knowledge of music, notes, and scales need to be…

For 10 years, the Galaxy Zoo has been bringing citizens closer to the stars

Ten years ago, a strange blue smear flashed across the computer screen of Hanny von Arkel, a Dutch elementary school teacher. That anomalous blue smudge was located on a powerful telescope tracking movement. Thanks to the efforts of von Arkel,…

My training as a sexological bodyworker brought me home to my body

BY: CAITLIN ROBERTS  Featured photo by Adrianne Pennings “How would you like to be touched?” I take a fulfilling breath and exhale loudly. “Mmmmmm. I’d like you to lightly trace your finger tips all over my entire body. Very slowly. You…

New study suggests that smartphones reduce brain power even while turned off

BY: NADIA ZAIDI  A new study says that the mere presence of your smartphone reduces brain power, even if the device is turned off. Researchers at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas conducted experiments with around…

‘Exercise pill’ boosts athletic endurance by 70 percent

Let’s be honest here for a moment – few people like exercise. Sure, it’s regularly touted as the be-all end-all for many of the modern health woes that plague our society. It’s clear that many of our health woes could…

This environmentally friendly pesticide may change farming forever

BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS Springtime arrives once more to banish the icy hand of winter from our frosty cities, and again the Earth renews itself in preparation for another long and bountiful summer. For you and I, springtime probably means…

Astrology: Science or Superstition?

BY: IVA CELEBIC  Here’s a riddle: what does everyone secretly read but love to deny anyway? Their horoscope. The long debated pseudoscience of stars has always been taboo to mention aloud. Ask someone their star sign, and you risk being…

Naked and asleep: why sleeping nude is best

BY: NADIA ZAIDI  Let it hang between the sheets. In fact, why cover at all? A recent study shows that uninhibited (that’s one way of putting it) sleepers enjoy more perks of life. In fact, they’re also wealthier than pyjama-wearing snobs.…

Can you stay vegetarian during pregnancy?

I have this theory that I am a vegetarian that hates the taste of meat because of what my mother ate during her pregnancy with me. Instead of chugging down orange crush like she did while pregnant with my sister,…

Women prefer good looks to personality, according to new study

BY: NADIA ZAIDI I have to say, nothing beats a good sense of humour. Nothing. Err, okay, maybe a nice head of hair and a chiselled jawline that rivals any Gillette model. Does this make me superficial? Nope. Apparently I’m…

Scientists have turned spinach leaves into human heart tissue

BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS  The lucrative field of genetically-engineered organs and organ transplants gets stranger every day. In 2006, researchers started implanting fully-formed pig hearts into baboons; with the help of heavy anti-rejection medication, the baboons and their new tickers…

5 unconventional ways to reduce daily stress

BY: QUENTIN STUCKEY Between the tax forms you haven’t filled out yet, the family reunion coming up on the weekend or even finding a decent parking spot at work, daily stresses can certainly add up pretty quickly. And before you know…

How is animal testing still legal?

While certain regulations have been created, ultimately despite the alternatives, animal testing remains the norm in most industries. While some large companies have chosen to abstain, the vast majority find it easier to turn a blind eye to the ugly,…

Artificial life: Meet the first ever artificially produced embryo

BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS  In 1978, an English doctor snipped newborn Louise Brown’s umbilical cord, slapped the baby on the rear, and handed off the crying infant to a proud mother and father. It would have been just another delivery…

Hoversurf just created the world’s first rideable hoverbike

In 1989, Marty McFly and Doc Brown used a custom DeLorean – complete with flux capacitor – to travel to the far-off, futuristic year of 2015. They discovered a utopian world filled with technological wonders, the likes of which we’ve…

There’s now a patch that can stop peanut allergies

BY RHIANN MOORE If you’ve spent your life forced to envy the simplistic, yet delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich, those days could soon be behind you. A treatment for the menacingly common peanut allergy is being proven to work by…

Caltech scientists working to rid fuel of sulfur compounds in gasoline

BY RHIANN MOORE If the world is continually unable to find a way to regulate the excessive use of gasoline and diesel at least scientists at Caltech have developed a method to remove (potentially all) sulfur compounds from the gas.…